With 80 nations represented in the Whistler Athletes Village, you get to hear so many languages and have the opportunity for such cultural exchange that would otherwise be extremely rare. This has been one of the many blessings of participating in the Olympics. Everyone seems to have a wonderful story of how they got here and if for even a five minute conversation, one can learn and discover something interesting. For example, as I'm sitting here in this wonderful cafe located in the center of the athletes village, I met the assistant to the Israeli delegation. He told me how their skeleton racer had an issue with his equipment which made it completely unusable. Would you guess which nation's athlete offered and gave him a his own skeleton sled? Iraq! Above politics and all the competition, there is such a respect for one another as athletes here that should be practiced more in day to day life where one recognizes another as a "global citizen". It's such a beautiful thing